Electronic assemblies or modules are used for various applications and purposes in many fields; for example, in the motor vehicle field, electronic modules are provided as control devices (for example as motor control devices or as door control devices) for processing the measurement signals of sensors and the output signals of actuators as well as for controlling various aggregate or assembly functions or components of the motor vehicle, or are in use as fuse and relay boxes.
Electronic modules typically consist of a circuit carrier or support (for example a circuit board) and a circuit arrangement that is arranged on this circuit support and that consists of components (for example mounted by means of solder mounting or adhesive mounting) and contact elements (for example press-in or insertion contacts protruding perpendicularly to the circuit support, realized through use of the press-in or insertion technique). For protection against environmental influences, the circuit arrangement is enclosed by a housing. In order that the circuit arrangement contained in the housing can be contacted, at least one plug-in socket is integrated in the housing. Each one of the plug-in sockets comprises a certain number of openingsxe2x80x94so-called pin openings. The contact elements arranged on the circuit support are positioned so that respectively one contact element is lead to the outside centrally through a corresponding pin opening of a plug-in socket. The contact elements of a plug-in socket can be contacted via a connection plug fitting to the plug-in socket.
Due to production tolerances, various thermal expansions, and the hygroscopic characteristics (water take-up or moisture take-up) of the housing and of the circuit support, the (exact) positioning of the contact elements relative to the pin openings of the plug-in sockets is problematic, especially in connection with large housing dimensions and a plurality of plug-in sockets integrated in the housing. Moreover, with the use of press-in contacts as contact elements, there are especially high demands on the central positioning of the individual contact elements with respect to the pin openings of the corresponding plug-in socket.
It is the underlying object of the invention to specify an electronic assembly or module that especially comprises a simple construction and low costs, a high reliability and a simplified production, as well as advantageous characteristics with respect to the positioning of the contact elements to the pin openings of the plug-in sockets and the loading upon the contacting with the external connection plug.
This object is achieved according to the invention by the features of the patent claim 1. Advantageous embodiments of the electronic module are the subject matter of the further patent claims.
In the presented electronic module, at least one plug-in socket is decoupled from the housing of the electronic module (supported floatingly or movably in the housing of the electronic module), so that the pin openings of the plug-in sockets can be oriented according to the circuit support or according to the contact elements arranged on the circuit support, so that thereby the pin openings are exactly positionable. Moreover, several plug-in sockets can be collected or assembled together to form a plug-in socket group, and, in their entirety, may be decoupled from the housing of the electronic module (supported floatingly or movably in the housing of the electronic module). The number of the plug-in sockets of a plug-in socket group is freely selectable. Suitably, neighboring plug-in sockets are grouped together to form a plug-in socket group, in order to keep the absolute dimensions of the resulting plug-in socket group small.
The housing enclosing the circuit arrangement may, for example, be assembled from several housing parts, for example from the two housing parts: housing upper part or cover and housing lower part or base. In this context, the plug-in socket or the plug-in socket group can be decoupled from the associated housing part of the electronic module (supported floatingly or movably in the associated housing part of the electronic module).
Due to the decoupling, tolerance problems only play a role within one plug-in socket or one plug-in socket group, that is to say only within the dimensions of the plug-in socket or plug-in socket group decoupled from the housing (these are significantly smaller than the dimensions of the housing or the housing part of the electronic module).
The plug-in socket or the plug-in socket group is embodied as a separate insert part for decoupling the plug-in socket or the plug-in socket group from the housing or the associated housing part of the electronic module. A recess corresponding to the insert part is located in the housing and especially in the associated housing part, so that the insert part and the housing or the associated housing part can be joined with one another. The connection or joint of insert part and housing or housing part is achieved by a form-fit or form-locking shape of securing elements provided on the perimeter rim of the insert part with connecting elements that are provided on the inner side of the housing or housing part and that surround the recess. After the joining of insert part and housing or housing part, the insert part is movably supported to be movable in a plane (i.e. in two directions) in the recess of the housing or housing part, and is supported nearly without play by the form-locking connection in a direction perpendicular to this plane. Upon joining of insert part and housing or housing part, the recess provided in the housing or housing part is closed in a dust-tight sealed manner, by the cooperative interaction of a protruding lip (embodied in the manner of a collar) provided on the perimeter rim of the recess, with a groove fabricated on the perimeter rim of the insert part. In that the width of the groove of the insert part is embodied larger than the width of the protruding lip (of the collar) of the housing or housing part, the movability of the insert part in the plane is ensured on the one hand, and is simultaneously limited on the other hand. The orienting of the insert part and therewith of the pin openings of the plug-in sockets or of the plug-in socket group with respect to the contact elements on the circuit support is achieved during the assembly of the circuit support with the sub-assembly of housing or housing part and insert part. Thereby, centering pins located on the insert part engage in receiver bores or holes of the circuit support and orient the insert part locally to the contact elements.
The number of the connecting elements of the housing or housing part, and therewith the number of the corresponding securing elements of the insert part, is selected depending on the size of the insert part (of the recess in the housing or housing part) and therewith the size of the plug-in socket or plug-in socket group, as well as dependent on the forces that are transmitted during the connecting or joining of insert part and housing or housing part or during the joining of the external connector plugs onto the plug-in connections or plug-in sockets.
The insert part can be produced together with the housing or the associated housing part in a common production step. Especially, in connection with a housing that consists of plastic and that is assembled from at least two housing parts, the insert part can be produced together with the associated housing part in one injection molding process through the use of one (common) family tool, so that an exact pre-assembly of housing part and insert part is possible, and thereby logistically only the pre-assembled part must be handled for the final production (assembly of the circuit support with the complete housing).
The presented electronic module incorporates and unifies several advantages:
A standardization (modular building block system) can be achieved due to the modular construction. Through the integration of the plug-in sockets and especially through integration of the plug-in socket group formed by grouping together several plug-in sockets into one insert part having smaller dimensions in comparison to the housing dimensions, the fixed functional dimensions for maintaining the tolerances set forth in the application specifications become smaller, whereby, in connection with plastic housings, the repetition or reproduction accuracy of injection molding processes can be used in the production of the insert part, in that the receiving bores or holes in the circuit support are adapted to the measured tool-contacting parts. Through an undercut-free realization of the decoupling of the plug-in sockets or plug-in socket group in the housing part and in the insert part, no (cost entailing) movable sliders are needed in the injection molding tool in connection with plastic housings produced by means of injection molding processes. Thereby the production costs of the injection molding tool are lower, short cycle times and long tool service lives arise during the production, and therewith also low part prices, and no contamination of the injection molded parts (housing part, insert part) occurs from lubricants that are necessary in connection with movable sliders (economical and ecological advantage).
The assembly of the insert part with the housing or housing part after the injection molding process is automatable in a simple manner, whereby a positioning of the insert part is enabled by use of lead-in guides provided in the housing or housing part. Due to the secure and stable securing of the insert part in the housing or housing part, and due to the sealing against external influences (especially with respect to permeating dust), no additional securing elements or sealing elements are required, despite the described decoupling. A rattling of the insert part in the housing or housing part is prevented due to the pre-tensioning between the securing elements of the insert part and the associated connecting element of the housing or housing part after the assembly of the insert part with the housing or housing part.